When Scott Overland and his family went into this local restaurant, they just wanted to have dinner.
They had no idea that they would end their dinner with a very rare find.
Scott, his wife, and two young children are from Philadelphia and they were currently vacationing on Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. They decided to eat at a local place for seafood called Salt Air.
They had ordered a clam appetizer that was prepared with scampi sauce, Parmesan, and bell pepper pico de gallo and it cost $14. But Scott’s wife didn’t like peppers so they requested that the bell pepper pico de gallo be removed.
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Unfortunately for his wife, at that time, they failed to exclude the peppers.
“My wife is not a big fan of peppers, so we actually ordered it without that,” Scott said. “It came (with the pico) and my wife was deciding whether or not to send it back. She decided to keep it, fortunately, otherwise, we would not have had this whole experience.”
That’s why Scott ended up eating most of the clams. And when he was done to the last set of clams, he bit down on something hard.
He thought it was a shell but when he checked what it was, he discovered it was something so much more than just a shell.
He bit down on a pearl!
At first, though, he couldn’t believe it was a pearl for two reasons. One, it was the color purple. And two, it came from a clam.
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Who knew pearls can come from clams, too?
While it’s true that pearls are formed by oysters, pearls are actually made by bivalve mollusks, like oysters, clams, and mussels. But only saltwater clams and freshwater mussels can make the pearls we see being sold today.
The clams served by Salt Air are northern quahog clams called Mercenaria mercenaria. These produce non-nacreous pearls ranging from “cream” white to brown to pinkish purple to dark purple.
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Their pearls are also very rare.
Since these clams are farm grown, they are harvested mechanically. And this process makes it nearly impossible to make pearls. And even if they did, they are either damaged or have poor quality.
And even if a rare pearl makes it to the restaurant or to the consumer, the cooking process of steaming or adding lemon juice or anything acidic can destroy it.
Scott and his wife quickly searched for a possible value of this rare pearl and the amount shocked them.
“We found that this actually was something kind of rare and special, and saw a wide range of values, from $600 to even $16,000,” Scott revealed.
There are many factors that determine the value of a rare pearl.
The origin, type, shape, color, and surface quality all contribute to the financial value of a pearl. The size of the pearl is also considered.
Scott is still planning to have it appraised but for now, they’re keeping it in the family.
“I have a six-year-old daughter who I’m sure would love to have it,” Scott shared. “We might try to turn it into something so we can have a special family heirloom. That, or I have to keep eating clams and find a second one if I want to turn it into earrings.”
Learn more about Scott’s rare dining experience when you watch the video below.
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